1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to medical apparatus and methods. More particularly, the present invention relates to methods and systems for facilitating, accelerating, and stabilizing tooth movement before, during and after orthodontic procedures.
Orthodontic procedures suffer from four major problems. First, the braces or other appliances which effect the tooth movement must be worn for long periods of time. Second, even after a successful orthodontic treatment, the teeth often relapse towards their original positions once the braces or other treatment appliances are removed. Third, the mechanically induced movement of teeth can cause significant discomfort to the patient. Fourth, the wearing of braces is esthetically displeasing, uncomfortable, and compromises oral hygiene. While recently introduced clear plastic visible “aligners” largely overcome the latter problems, such aligners are not suitable for all patients. Moreover, the aligners do not reduce treatment time, do not reduce the risk of relapse, and do not lessen the pain associated with tooth movement in the jaw.
For these reasons, it would be desirable to provide improved orthodontic technologies for moving teeth which overcome at least some of the problems noted above. In particular, it would be desirable to provide orthodontic methods and systems which can reduce the time necessary to effect a desired tooth movement, which can reduce the pain associated with tooth movement, which can reduce the tendency of teeth to relapse to their original positions after the orthodontic treatment is stopped, and/or which can reduce the time in which unsightly braces need to be worn.
2. Description of Background Art
Nicozisis et al. (2000) Clin. Orthod. Res. 3:192–201, describes experiments which demonstrate the presence of endogenous relaxin in cranial tissue of mice and speculates that relaxin may be used as an adjunct to orthodontic or surgical therapy to promote manipulation of sutural tissues or affect stability. The application of electrical current to stimulate bone growth and remodeling in orthodontic procedures is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,854,865; 4,519,779; and 4,153,060. Appliances for local and systematic drug delivery to the gingival tissues are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,159,498, 5,633,000; 5,616,315; 5,575,655; 5,447,725; 5,294,004; 4,959,220; 4,933,183; 4,892,736; 4,685,883; and Re. 34,656. Polymeric shell appliances for repositioning teeth are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,975,893. The full disclosures of each of the above U.S. patents are incorporated herein by reference.